The Vietnam War in American Memory

A penetrating account of the cultural politics surrounding the memorialization of the Vietnam War

Patrick Hagopian

Details

Description

A study of American attempts to come to terms with the legacy of the Vietnam War, this book highlights the central role played by Vietnam veterans in shaping public memory of the war.

Tracing the evolution of the image of the Vietnam veteran from alienated dissenter to traumatized victim to noble warrior, Patrick Hagopian describes how efforts to commemorate the war increasingly downplayed the political divisions it spawned in favor of a more unifying emphasis on honoring veterans and promoting national “healing.”

Reviews

"I have not seen a more careful or thorough treatment of memorialization of the Vietnam War. Hagopian goes way beyond the standard treatment of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in his use of sources, his very important treatment of the loaded concept of ‘healing,’ and his careful and sensitive study of other memorial projects. . . . This is an impeccably researched and gracefully written book."—Edward Linenthal, author of Preserving Memory: The Struggle to Create America’s Holocaust Museum

"This is among the most important books on the Vietnam War published in the past decade. . . . Highly recommended."—Choice

"Patrick Hagopian’s long-awaited book, decades in the making, arrives at a time when the U.S. military intervention in Vietnam has become a hot topic in memory studies. . . . a powerful reflection on the healing power and moral equivocation of war memorials."—Kirk Savage, Indiana Magazine of History

"A wonderful book. . . . The research in Hagopian’s study is wide-ranging and impressive, and a number of the issues he examines, such as his analysis of the much understudied Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program, clearly set his book apart from other excellent works on postwar memory and commemoration."—The Public Historian

"An extraordinary book. . . . The ultimate ‘lesson’ of this perceptive book, beyond its many engrossing particulars, may very well concern what happens when memories are conflicted, get blurred, and gradually become acquired memories—learned in school, from films and books, and from memorials seeking to seem neutral about the purpose, nature, and actual prosecution of the war."—Michael Kammen, Reviews in American History

"Sophisticated and ambitious. . . . As Hagopian so brilliantly shows in this wide-ranging and strikingly original book, healing and reconciliation came at a steep cost."—Robert J. McMahon, Diplomatic History

"Hagopian's book will likely stand for some time as the definitive history of the so-called Vietnam wall, including the forces that led to its construction, the debates that surrounded its design, and the role that the memorial has played in American political life since it was dedicated in November 1982. . . . Hagopian tells the story with a thoroughness and care that makes his story gripping and his arguments compelling."—American Quarterly

"An impressive tour de force that covers a highly contentious aspect of public memory in the United States. . . . He has exhaustively researched and persuasively argued his topic. This book stands as required reading for any one interested in the particular workings of public memory in the United States concerning the Vietnam War as well as for those seeking a superb demonstration of the long-term influences of wars gone by. . . . Hagopian's book is truly monumental in many regards."—On Point

"Hagopian's first book, almost two decades in the making, is a rare combination of years of fastidious information-gathering, a critical engagement with a variety of perspectives, scholarly thoroughness, and a remarkable personal investment. . . . Hagopian's book is especially useful for experts in the field, providing the most exhaustive survey of primary sources surrounding the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., in particular and other forms of memorialization more generally. . . . This book is truly a "life's work," and hopefully the first of many from Hagopian."—Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

"This is by far the most complete examination of the complex, hotly contested story of the VVM extant. . . . Overall, this is among the most important books on the Vietnam War published in the past decade. . . . For anyone seriously interested in the Vietnam War era and recent US History. . . . this should be a challenging, rewarding work. . . . Highly recommended."—Choice

"In what could be the signature phrase of this great book, Hagopian writes that Vietnam veterans have been made 'the symptom carriers of a society that refuses to recognize unpleasant facts about its past.' The Vietnam War in American Memory is a welcome addition to efforts in the deconstruction of the national post-Vietnam story."—Journal of Cold War Studies

Author

Patrick Hagopian is senior lecturer in American studies at Lancaster University.